Environmental and Earth Sciences

Arctic Science, Geography, Geology, Oceanography, Hydrology, Glaciology, Seismology, Meteorology, Climate Science, Limnology, Remote Sensing, Natural Resources, Mining, Green Tech, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Archeology, Paleontology

Why should you care about bird flu?

Betty Zou Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science
Dr. Samira Mubareka is a clinician scientist whose work focuses on emerging viruses. (Photo credit: Kevin van Paassen/Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) Last week, the city of Brampton confirmed that two dead waterfowl found in the city had tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, or bird flu. This follows earlier reports of cases...

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Sharks Don’t Want to Eat You! Mark Leiren-Young’s New Book Sharks Forever

Mark Leiren-Young Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Policy and Politics
Skaana (@Skaanapod) host Mark Leiren-Young (@LeirenYoung) shares the introduction and opening chapter of his new book Sharks Forever: The Mystery and History of the Planet’s Perfect Predator published by Orca Book Publishers (@orcabook).  “If you swim in the ocean every day for 100 years, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than swallowed...

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Why should we care about Marburg?

Betty Zou Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science
Dr. Rob Fowler (second from right) with World Health Organization colleagues at the Ebola Clinical Training Centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Photo credit: Rob Fowler) Earlier this year, Equatorial Guinea declared its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease, with 11 confirmed deaths so far. The disease is caused by Marburg virus, which belongs to the...

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Breathless – another masterpiece from David Quammen!

Staffan Lindgren Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, Science in Society
Last week the Wall Street Journal were first to report that the US Department of Energy, Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, had produced a classified report concluding with “low confidence” that the Covid virus most likely originated from a laboratory leak in China. FBI had earlier come to the same conclusion with “moderate confidence”, while...

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(R)Evolution!

21mediair Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences, General Science
(R)Evolution! ‘Chickenosaurus’ and the Science of ‘Evo-Devo’ Occasionally in nature, animals are born with mutations that cause them to exhibit ancestral traits. For example, snakes can be born with legs, whales with tiny hindlimbs, horses with toes, and even humans with tails. These traits, which occur in both plants and animals, are called ‘atavisms’ or...

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Online Metabarcoding Course – March 6 to 31, 2023

Dirk Steinke Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Environmental and Earth Sciences
It is time again for my online Metabarcoding course:This course provides an overview of the state of current technology and the various sequencing platforms used. It consists of a series of online lectures and research exercises and will go over 4 weeks but is designed in a fashion that you can go through course content...

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Featured Creatures of November ’22

chloevanloon Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Environmental and Earth Sciences
Another month has passed on our one and only planet, so following this new type of post from its initial launch last month, I present the creatures I featured on my nature-focused Instagram within the month of November in 2022. This month we explored tidepools in two different settings over a total of six nights....

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